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A court scam that has been sweeping the country has reached Marion County. Residents have been receiving emails stating they must appear to a hearing before a judge.

The email directs residents to bring the information in the attached letter to court. When the attachment is opened it infects the recipients computer with a virus.

District Court Clerk Jan Helmer said courts always contact residents by mail or rarely by phone.

“This is a new scam as of a month ago,” she said. “Last week it was reported to the Dickinson County court.”

Emails have also been reported in Morris County.

Helmer said some residents have reported that they received a phone call telling them that they failed to appear for jury duty and there was a warrant for their arrest.

“They were told if they wanted to pay $100 with their credit card over the phone they could avoid getting arrested,” she said in a press release Friday.

No one from the District Court will be asking for a residents’ credit card information, Helmer said.

“If you were in fact called for jury duty, you may receive a call from the court the morning of the service if you failed to appear,” she said. “A bench warrant will not b issued for your arrest for failing to appear for jury duty.”

Helmer said that if a resident receives such an email to delete it and report it to her, also report phone calls. If a resident has questions about any email or phone call from the district courts office to contact her at (620) 382-2104. More information about the scam can be found at http://www.8thjd.com/.